Belichick claims to know nothing about leaked Manziel scouting report

Posted by Mike Florio on May 10, 2014, 10:24 AM EST

AP

Two intriguing reports emerged on Friday afternoon regarding members of the Browns, Josh Gordon and Johnny Manziel. In both cases, the team in position to know the truth declined to say the reports aren’t true.

Regarding Manziel and the scathing scouting report supposedly leaked by the Patriots, coach Bill Belichick didn’t say the report is false. Actually, Belichick didn’t say much of anything, like he typically does.

“With all due respect, I hate to admit this but I don’t think I’ve been online in a couple days or weeks or whatever, so that’s not really an important thing to me,” Belichick said, via Tom Curran of CSN New England. “I don’t even know what’s online and what isn’t online. But I would say we probably have, I can’t even imagine, 10,000 pages of information. It’s a lot of information. There’s no way I can sit up here and tell you that I’ve read it all. I’ve read a fraction of it. But we have a ton of information on all the players that are in the draft. What’s online, you should go talk to the geniuses that are online. I don’t know. MyFace, YourFace, InstantFace. Go talk to whoever you want that does that stuff. I don’t know.”

It’s funny and it’s quirky and it’s quintessential Belichick, the guy who acts like he’s above anything that isn’t what he cares about or knows about. But it’s unfair to the Browns or Manziel for Belichick to be flippant about a topic that possibly represents an effort by someone with the Patriots to smear Manziel by leaking confidential internal documents to the media.

Belichick should be far more concerned about the situation, both as to the fact that it harms Manziel and as to the possibility that it could happen again in the future.

I’d say without question that Michael Lombardi leaked that report. Same guy who was “accidentally” seen with Browns draft materials after he joined the Patriots. He’s obviously sour about getting fired by Jimmy.

There’s no way this leaked report can do anything but help Manziel at this point. He’s been drafted, and his contract is pretty much predetermined. Now he’s got some very candid reports of what he’s doing wrong, and he has a couple of years to change his ways, win over his new team, and earn that big second contract.

Lord Oswald Bupkis III says:May 10, 2014 10:34 AM

This is a classic Patriots move, and yes, he knew about it.

cletusvandam says:May 10, 2014 10:35 AM

Who cares. I’m sure everything in that report about Manziel is accurate, as Cleveland will soon find out. Teams can come to any conclusion they want about a player.

700levelvet says:May 10, 2014 10:36 AM

Seriously… Knowing how he usually responds to stupid questions…Did any reporter expect an answer when they asked these questions?

How does this matter in the grand scheme of things? Each team evaluated Manziel and had their own report about him. You think anyone would care what the Patriots thought about someone they weren’t going to take? The Browns obviously thought highly enough to make him their first round pick and they had their own interviews and reports. If Farmer let another team’s report bother him, then he wouldn’t be a very good executive

ampats says:May 10, 2014 11:04 AM

What you failed to report in this post that there is a lot of question whether this report actually came from the New England Patriots organization as the form it is printed on is in question. It was sold by somebody in Connecticut who first offered it to Barstool Sports in Boston for 5K and they offered the person a tee shirt for it. It was later sold to Biblesports.com for 5K. There is a strong possibility that the person in question created the report and duped somebody into paying $$ for it.

bigdaddy44 says:May 10, 2014 11:09 AM

Every team has mountains of info on all the top players. To think one leaked report from a single team caused twenty other teams to ignore their own info and pass on Manziel is both laughable and ignorant. If all these scouting staffs are so bad that they have to rely on something like this to make their draft decisions, then a lot of teams should fire their staffs. This whole issue is more likely about Belichick. haters in the league and the media trying to stir up a hornet’s nest. Manziel fell because of real questions about his ability to be successful in the NFL. Lame excuses like this are just plain childish.

Get this…. He might just…. NOT KNOW! And on too of that… There might not be anything to know. Perhaps nobody from patriots knew or said anything. Perhaps the leak was from another source. OR… Perhaps this is all media made!

ampats says:May 10, 2014 11:20 AM

I also don’t understand the hatred from Browns fans towards Lombardi/Banner. You do realize had they not traded Richardson to Indy for their first round pick, there may have been no Johnny Manziel in Cleveland as there was zero chance the Browns were going to use their top ten pick (as it was traded) on Manziel

Once again this report hasn’t been confirmed to be real. In fact, a lot of the local media insist this report is fake and that whoever sold it swindled somebody badly.

I know being patient and waiting for confirmation doesn’t make for “hot” news and won’t get page hits. I know that journalism died a long time ago. I really didn’t expect anything different than sensationalism.

In any case, I absolutely love Belichick. Not just because he is the best coach in the NFL and a hall of fame lock but I love the way he is when the media asks stupid questions. The Patriots don’t care one bit about outside opinions and Belichick exemplifies that mindset.

If I wanted to sell a fake scouting report for cash, and I wanted to give it an air of legitimacy, and I was in the Connecticut area, I would make it look like it came from a legitimate and credible organization. The report would not hold the same sway if it were from say, the NYJ’s, or the NYG’s, as they were not reportedly actively interviewing the available QB’s.

If I were in the Patriots organization, I would not be stupid enough to sell the information with Patriots logos all over it. $5k is chump change to people in high places in the organization. It would have to be someone in the laundry room and I am doubting this info made it to that person.

More likely is this was a product of the NYJ’s as a side effort to try and embroil their nemesis in controversy as there are unlimited lemmings willing to jump on this bandwagon.

Loved his answer. The Patriots aren’t going to be relative this season though. It’s the start of a new era. Even as a Raven fan I thought things were looking up for Cleveland. I like them better than Pittsburgh. Then Josh Gordon happened to the Browns. How much bad luck can one city have when it comes to sports?

abqhawk says:May 10, 2014 11:33 AM

Why is it Belichick’s name seems to come up so often w/ questionable or controversial issues?

Asking Belichick questions about anything remotely controversial or where an answer might even remotely risk some competitive advantage has never worked,didn’t work here and will never work in the future.

The only story you ever get from trying that is how Belichick still doesn’t answer questions he doesn’t want to answer.

scw1993 says:May 10, 2014 11:39 AM

When you can’t beat them, you accuse them of cheating, or leaking info. Belicheck isn’t a leaker, in fact, he’s just the opposite. Year in, year out, no matter who is, or is not on the team, they contend. As you can see by some of the posts, jealousy is alive and well, it’s nothing new.

If it is Lombardi leaking things without Bellichek knowing first there is no way he lasts long in NE despite their friendship. Hoodie does not seem like the type that likes being surprised by media drama

Belichick doesn’t know what’s going on in his business.
Haslam doesn’t know what’s going on in his business.
Wilf doesn’t know what’s going on in his business.
Ross doesn’t know what’s going on in his locker room.
And Irsay doesn’t know what’s going on in his head.

If it’s an accurate report, I’m sure that the rest of the league had a similar scouting report on the dude. Which is probably why he went late in the first round… and wasn’t even Cleveland’s 1st choice. I’m surprised he went in the first round at all, then again… Cleveland…

puntonfirstdown says:May 10, 2014 12:19 PM

Three years from now: “Whatever happened to Johnny Manziel?”

deacon85 says:May 10, 2014 12:29 PM

“It’s funny and it’s quirky and it’s quintessential Belichick, the guy who acts like he’s above anything that isn’t what he cares about or knows about.” That’s why those of us who are Patriots fans just love this guy. Year in and year out, all he does is win. Good drafts, bad drafts, Brady or no Brady (11-5 in 2008), he just wins. And in the end, he doesn’t care what the media thinks. In Bill We Trust!

As for Manziel – Belichick wouldn’t know about the leaked report because it came from a scout who was fired from the team (the scout inserting his view of where Manziel should be drafted indicates he was unprofessional in his duties). And the scathing review of Manziel is not something he or anyone else should protest – Manziel’s sloppiness of play and self-loving personality merely confirm it.

Some things never change when it comes the Patriots organization. Always surprisingly involved in sticky situations. Really tough for Pat fans to see through all this stuff but that’s why the rest of us are here to point it out.

Hoodie answers all questions from the media the same..he really tells you nothing. lol And as far as all he does is win Pats fans, when he was here in Cleveland, he had one winning season in 4 seasons, which Pats fans seem to forget….lets not crown the Hood just let shall we..

dlk47823 says:May 11, 2014 4:39 PM

Teddy Bruschi on the Patriots draft: “The AFC just got a whole lot tighter. The year’s of NE’s dominance are over.”